The Van Gogh Museum opened on 2 June 1973 in a Gerrit Rietveld-designed building on Museumplein, the cultural heart of Amsterdam. The collection was assembled by Vincent's brother Theo and his sister-in-law Jo van Gogh-Bonger, then transferred to the Dutch state in 1962. With more than 200 paintings, 500 drawings and 750 letters by Vincent van Gogh, the museum holds the largest collection of his work in the world.
This page brings together everything you need to plan the visit: the full price list of Van Gogh Museum tickets, a comparison between the official ticketing on tickets.vangoghmuseum.com and the marketplaces GetYourGuide and Tiqets, the current opening hours and a section on how to reach the museum from Amsterdam Centraal, Schiphol Airport or Leidseplein.
Inside, the permanent collection is arranged chronologically across four floors of the Rietveld building and the Kisho Kurokawa exhibition wing added in 1999. Visitors follow Vincent from his early Dutch period (The Potato Eaters, 1885) through the bright Paris years, the Provençal landscapes (Sunflowers, 1888), and the final months at Auvers-sur-Oise (Wheatfield with Crows, 1890). Three temporary exhibitions a year focus on specific themes, contemporaries or recent loans.
Van Gogh Museum was rated 4.7/5 on GetYourGuide with over 54,000 verified reviews on the main entry ticket alone, and 4.7/5 on Tiqets with more than 12,000 reviews. The museum operates 365 days a year and is the only major Amsterdam attraction with no exhibition fee on top of the standard ticket. Tickets are non-refundable when bought directly from the official site, but GetYourGuide offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before the visit.
Van Gogh Museum Ticket Prices
Van Gogh Museum ticket prices are unified across all channels: 25 € for an adult standard entry on the official site, with audio guide as an optional 3.75 € add-on. Resellers like GetYourGuide and Tiqets add a small booking fee but compensate with extras such as free cancellation, combo tours with canal cruises, and small-group guided sessions. The cheapest verified entry across all platforms starts at 27 € for the GetYourGuide standard timed ticket.
| Ticket Type | Price |
|---|---|
| Van Gogh Museum Entry Ticket (GetYourGuide) | from 27 € |
| Standard adult entry (official site) | 25 € |
| Visitors under 18 | free |
| Students with valid ID | 15 € |
| Audio guide add-on | 3.75 € |
| Entry + Amsterdam Canal Cruise combo | from 50 € |
| Small Group Guided Tour (1.5h) | from 80 € |
| Official Guided Tour (1h) | from 45 € |
Booking online in advance is mandatory because the museum no longer sells tickets at the door. Slots routinely sell out 5 to 10 days ahead in summer and on weekends. Guided tour options range from 45 € for the official 1-hour walking tour with entry, to 85 € for top-rated small-group experiences with a licensed art historian, and 238 € for semi-private combos that pair the Van Gogh Museum with the Rijksmuseum.
Visitors under 18 enter free of charge but still need a timed-entry ticket booked in advance. Students between 18 and 26 pay a discounted 15 € rate at the official desk on presentation of an international student card. Museumkaart, ICOM, Rembrandt card and Vincent's Friends holders enter free but must also reserve a timed slot online. Same prices apply year-round; there are no peak-season surcharges.
Free entry rules
Free admission applies only to visitors under 18 and to specific Dutch museum-card holders. The museum was no longer affiliated with the I amsterdam City Card after 1 June 2022, so visitors holding an IACC must book a separate Van Gogh Museum ticket. All free-entry visitors must still reserve a timed-entry voucher online; entry without a time slot is not possible.
Where to Buy Van Gogh Museum Tickets
Three main channels sell Van Gogh Museum tickets to international visitors: the official store on tickets.vangoghmuseum.com, the GetYourGuide marketplace and the Tiqets aggregator. The most important difference is the cancellation policy and the breadth of combo tours that bundle the museum with canal cruises, the Rijksmuseum, the Heineken Experience or other Amsterdam attractions.
GetYourGuide - Entry Tickets and Combo Tours
GetYourGuide is the recommended choice for the Van Gogh Museum, with the broadest catalogue of entry, audio-guide and combo options. The standard entry ticket is the #1 selling Van Gogh Museum product across all platforms. Key advantages:
- Free cancellation - up to 24 hours before the visit, with full refund
- Reserve now, pay later - secure a slot without committing the payment immediately
- Instant confirmation - by email within seconds of purchase
- 24/7 customer support - in English and ten other languages
- Mobile voucher - scanned at the museum entrance, no printing
- Audio guide in 11 languages - EN, ES, ZH, NL, FR, DE, IT, JA, KO, PT, RU
Tiqets - Combo Bundles and City Cards
Tiqets is the alternative for combo bundles pairing the Van Gogh Museum with other Amsterdam attractions, often at a 5 % discount over separate purchases:
- Van Gogh Museum + Moco Museum - combo from 46.13 € with 5 % discount
- Van Gogh + Stedelijk Museum - combo from 47.02 € with 5 % discount
- Van Gogh + Heineken Experience - combo from 49.35 €
- Van Gogh + Canal Cruise bundle - audio-guide included, from 39.50 €
- Mobile app - intuitive interface in English, Dutch and 14 other languages
Van Gogh Museum Opening Hours
The Van Gogh Museum is open every day from 09:00 to 18:00, including Sundays and most public holidays. Friday evenings run extended hours until 21:00, with live music programmes in the central hall. There is no weekly closing day, and the museum operates 365 days a year, including 1 January and 25 December.
Timed-entry slots are released in 15-minute intervals from 09:00 to 17:00, and the last admission is one hour before closing time. Once your slot starts you can stay as long as you like, up to closing time. The average visit lasts 1.5 to 2 hours, with serious art lovers staying 3 hours or more for the full permanent collection plus the temporary exhibition.
Peak hours run from 11:00 to 15:00 every day, particularly on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, when European weekend tourists and cruise passengers from IJmuiden converge on Museumplein. The quietest windows are the first 09:00 slot, the last 16:00 slot before closing, and the Friday evening 18:00-21:00 extension, when crowds thin and the temporary exhibition halls are easiest to navigate.
Cancellation and Refund Policy
Cancellation policy for Van Gogh Museum tickets varies significantly by channel. GetYourGuide applies the most customer-friendly rule: tickets can be cancelled free of charge up to 24 hours before the visit, with a full refund within 5-10 business days to the original payment method. The Reserve now, pay later option further lets you lock in a slot without committing payment immediately. Most Tiqets entry tickets are also free-cancel up to 24 hours before.
The official tickets.vangoghmuseum.com store is strict: purchased tickets are non-refundable once confirmed, and changes to date or time are at the museum's discretion. In force majeure cases - museum closure for state events, transport strike affecting Schiphol or Amsterdam Centraal, or a duplicate booking - the operators reschedule the visit free of charge. For support: getyourguide.com/contact and support.tiqets.com.
Tips for Visiting the Van Gogh Museum
Five essential rules drawn from verified reviews and on-site practice:
- Arrive 10 minutes before your slot - to clear the security check at the main entrance; large bags and umbrellas must be left in the free cloakroom on the lower level.
- Take the audio guide - available in 11 languages on a multimedia handset for 3.75 €. Verified reviewers consistently call it the difference between a quick walk-through and a meaningful visit.
- Photography is allowed without flash - throughout the permanent collection. Tripods, monopods and selfie sticks are not permitted, and a small number of fragile works on loan may have no-photo signs.
- Start on the top floor and work down - the chronological hang flows naturally that way and the upper floors are quietest in the first hour after opening.
- Friday evenings are the best time - the museum stays open until 21:00 every Friday with live music, the temporary exhibition halls are easier to navigate, and the late-light atmosphere on Museumplein is at its best.
What to See at the Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum spans four floors of permanent collection and a temporary exhibition wing. The list below covers the highlight works and architectural elements you should not miss during a standard 1.5 to 2-hour visit:
Sunflowers
1889, oil on canvasPerhaps the most recognised painting in the museum, hung on the upper floor. Vincent painted seven versions of the Sunflowers series in Arles in 1888-1889; this Amsterdam canvas is the most luminous yellow.
The Potato Eaters
1885, oil on canvasVincent's first major composition, painted in Nuenen during his early Dutch period. The dark palette and rough hands of the peasant family signalled his ambition to be taken seriously as a painter.
Almond Blossom
1890, oil on canvasPainted to celebrate the birth of his nephew Vincent Willem van Gogh. Inspired by Japanese prints, the work shows almond branches against a luminous blue sky and is among the museum's most reproduced images.
Self-Portrait with Straw Hat
1887, oil on cardboardOne of more than thirty Van Gogh self-portraits, painted during the Paris years. The hatched brushwork shows the influence of pointillism encountered through Signac and Seurat.
The Bedroom
1888, oil on canvasThe Arles bedroom of the Yellow House where Vincent hoped to host a community of artists. The Amsterdam version is the first of three Van Gogh painted of the same subject.
Wheatfield with Crows
1890, oil on canvasLong thought to be Vincent's final work, painted in Auvers-sur-Oise in the weeks before his death in July 1890. The stormy sky and threatening crows make it the most emotionally charged piece in the collection.
Irises
1890, oil on canvasPainted in the asylum garden of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in the last year of Vincent's life. The deep blue petals against a pale yellow vase exemplify the colour contrasts he refined in the south of France.
Self-Portrait as a Painter
1888, oil on canvasVincent depicted at his easel in Paris, holding palette and brushes. One of his most psychologically intense self-portraits and a defining image of the artist.
Rietveld Building
Architecture, 1973The original museum building was designed by De Stijl architect Gerrit Rietveld and completed posthumously in 1973. Its rectilinear geometry deliberately contrasts with the curved Kurokawa wing of 1999.
Kurokawa Exhibition Wing
Architecture, 1999The curved, half-buried exhibition wing by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa houses the temporary exhibitions. The glass entrance hall was added in 2015 to consolidate the two buildings.
Letters Collection
750 lettersThe museum holds more than 750 letters by Vincent, most addressed to his brother Theo. Selected letters are displayed in rotation in the permanent galleries with translations into multiple languages.
Yellow: Beyond Van Gogh's Colour
Temporary, until 17 May 2026The current temporary exhibition explores Vincent's obsession with yellow pigments and their cultural meaning, with loans from European and North American collections.
Practical Information
The Van Gogh Museum sits at Museumplein 6, between the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk Museum. The nearest tram stops are Van Baerlestraat (lines 2 and 12) and Museumplein (lines 3 and 5), both within a 3-minute walk. From Amsterdam Centraal it is 25 minutes by tram, 30 minutes by bicycle on the dedicated Stadhouderskade-Van Baerlestraat lane, or 35 minutes by foot through the centre. The official site is vangoghmuseum.nl. There is no parking on Museumplein itself; the nearest Q-Park is at Concertgebouw, 4 minutes on foot.
| Address | Museumplein 6, 1071 DJ Amsterdam |
| Official website | vangoghmuseum.nl |
| Museum opened | 2 June 1973 |
| Architects | Gerrit Rietveld (1973), Kisho Kurokawa (1999) |
| Collection size | 200+ paintings, 500 drawings, 750 letters |
| Annual visitors | approx. 2 million |
| Average visit duration | 1.5 - 2 hours |
| Nearest tram stops | Van Baerlestraat, Museumplein (T2/T3/T5/T12) |
| Nearest car park | Q-Park Concertgebouw (4 min walk) |
| Nearest train station | Amsterdam Centraal (25 min by tram) |
| Nearest airport | Schiphol (30 min by train + tram) |
| Accessibility | Wheelchair accessible, Sunflower Lanyard supported |